Busy Shapes by Edoki Academy is hands down, one of the coolest kid’s games I have played to date! I LOVE everything to do with Children’s Media and will often find myself just browsing kid’s games, books, apps, and tv shows. The other day, I came across this little game that didn’t look too exciting or familiar but I decided to check it out.

Hands Down, One of “The Greats”

What did I find?! One of THE best apps for kids that I’ve ever stumbled across; even I enjoyed playing this game. Not only was it incredibly fun, adorable and unique, but it is SO EDUCATIONAL. Busy Shapes has a Montessori approach to learning and is being called “The First Digital Playground” by one educational app review site.

Since playing this game, exploring the features, and doing my research, I have become passionate about all that this mobile application has to offer and I am excited to share what I’ve learned! I will explain how this game fits into the section of the Ontario Kindergarten Curriculum that highlights innovation and problem solving. Through examples, I will demonstrate how Busy Shapes inspires innovation, how it explores problem solving and why every parent or adult who is working with children, will love it!

Learning through DIGITAL play: If Jean Piaget had an iPad

So many people think that for children, screen time is “bad”, that games are “addictive”, that digital media is “unsafe”. While it’s been proven that learning through play is the best way for young children to learn, why wouldn’t that include the digital playground? I wholeheartedly believe in the benefits of children’s media, when it is used as intended. There is so much for children to learn through the increasing use of technology.

Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector

Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector

Nowadays cats are all the rage, and what better way to contribute to said rage than with an app that lets you collect virtual cats? This app is called Neko Atsume: Kitty Collector and it is incredible. I am a giant fan of this app, and a lot of my friends are too. In this app, you are given a yard where you can place different toys and accessories to attract cats that you can buy in the store for fish (the currency in the game).

This game is full of surprises as different items bought in the store attract different types of cats. The real kicker is the cats won’t show up if you are always on the app so you have to close it and periodically check back in. I guess that’s how they get you to keep coming back. Now, I think the goal of the game is to collect all of the cats, but it is unclear since the game was originally all in Japanese.

The app was first released in October 2014 and was developed by Hit-Point and is available on iOS and Android devices. I personally love this game because of the cute animations as well as the push to beat my friends by collecting all of the cats before them. One thing about the game that I really like is that you can change the name of the cat after you have “collected” it.

I would recommend this game to people because of all the fun I’ve had with it. Sure it can get a little boring because you can’t really interact with your cats, but I like the challenge of collecting all the cats. Also, every once in a while, one of your cats will bring you a memento and you collect those as well and they are adorable. Have I mentioned this game is adorable? Because it is.

What are better than virtual cats? Real ones! However, if you can’t get real cats, virtual ones are a close second, which is why Kitty Collector is the app for you. It’s like practice for my future of being a cat lady! So it’s great!

The Wild Kingdom Pavillion was so cool. When you walk through, there are bats flying all around you. The app lists the animals you will see here.

In the Desert Dome, all the animals can roam freely, except the poisonous and deadly ones. Under the Desert Dome, you were deep underground and it actually felt like you are in a cave. The app says there are beavers and crocodiles swimming under you, and there were!

At the zoo there’s the Scott Kingdom of the Seas Aquarium. It is similar to Ripley’s aquarium except it is smaller and they are penguins. You can see the penguins underwater swimming. It is so cool.

Verdict: 8/10 — The app was very helpful. It has tons of details and describes the place well.

In downtown Omaha there’s a park with a huge slide. There is art everywhere with two waterfalls and a pond and lots of catfish.

One evening we went downtown where there were lots of kids going down the slide. The people brought wax paper for the kids to sit on so they can go really fast down the slide. When you go really fast, you can catch a bit of air. I think it was one of the funest things to do in Omaha. It was also free.

Verdict: 4/10 — The app does not tell you how great the place is and how much fun it is for kids.

Is it entertaining, educational or a little of both?

The app is completely educational. It was helpful for me because it listed fun things to do and the maps directed us to the right place. It was a bit wordy for a kid to read. I think it needs more photos and videos.

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Media offers a world of entertainment and learning possibilities for children and youth. The kidsmediacentre explores kids' media futures and is committed to supporting cross-platform content producers in Canada to ensure the kids' media industry is vibrant, indigenous and committed to the healthy growth of children.